"When I think of research my body aches. However, the kind of research we have done so far in this class has not been true research to me. I realize that it is research, but the way that this research makes me feel is so different than any other research has ever made me feel before that I find myself wondering if I am doing the assignments correct.
To the next student, Jeannie, interviewing felt so different from writing the traditional research paper that she thought she was doing something wrong. In Jeannie's experience, research can mean only one thing: going to the library, pouring over "boring" books till your body aches, and writing a report of information found in secondary sources. It took her some time to realize that interviewing is a legitimate research method.
Then, I started realizing that I was doing the assignments correct. The problem that I thought I was having was not a problem at all. Instead in this semester I have learned that research does not have to make me ache, that there are many different types of research that can be done to make very painless work from now on. The research that I was doing before was a bothersome and really didn't let me explore. This new approach to researching has made me more interested in the subjects and actually made me want to do the work. Not only was I seeing myself having to do an assignment for one of my classes, I also saw the assignment as a time that I could catch up with one of my relatives as they told me some stories about my family's history."
Jeannie's statement that previous research assignments didn't let her explore her topics shows that, when writing research papers before, she may have been more concerned with fitting her research into the conventions of the research paper genre instead of learning and exploring.
"At the onset [sic] of this class, I believed the only way to research was to saunter to the library, look up books relating to my topic, and dreadfully read and take notes. However, with my increasing knowledge, I discovered other forms of research that can be fun and simple. Conducting interviews is one of the easiest researching methods I have ever used."
This students considers interviewing easy and does a good job writing her interview paper. Teachers wishing to teach primary research in their writing classes will obviously need to let students know using primary researching well is as demanding and requires as much skill and determination as secondary research.
"As far as the research aspect of this class, my eyes have certainly been opened. I never realized that research could encompass so many different styles and sources. The two research types which I enjoyed working with is interviewing and relating senses to writing (for example, describing the smell of a kitchen, or an old picture.) I have learned the difference between being familiar with a subject area, and knowing it. This actually amuses me because I had forgotten about a research paper I had done back in eighth grade on Romanticism. At the time I wasn't very effective in a library, so my mom asked her history professor to help me out with an interview. I remember giving my oral report on Romanticism and looking at my teacher's face as I dispersed tons of information to the class. Dr. Fritzer (the woman I interviewed) had shown me pictures and played music for me, I became engulfed in the world of Romanticism, and with the interaction from the experience I became completely aware of what Romanticism stood for. This is the same thing that I have experienced in my research in this class, particularly in our second paper. I have talked with so many of my relatives, heard so many stories, and studied so many pictures, that I could swear that I have seen the old plantation my great-grandmother lived on. This is an experience I never had while researching the stylistic tendencies of Jane Austen. I don't think my enthusiasm for research has anything to do with the topic (I mean really, how interesting could Romanticism be.) It is completely related to the approach taken to learn about the subject. In all, I am pleased with what I have been learning in the class and feel that my continued growth in writing will come from staying open minded about new ideas, but knowing where certain areas of my writing" (Vicki).
In the section of this web entitled Student Performance on Primary and Secondary Research Assignments, I analyze researched texts written by students.